The 347 Sqdn left from Elvington at 1944-12-28 at an unknown time. Loc or duty ?
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial NA174, code L8-).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 766: 1,275 bombers and 606 fighter are dispatched to hit rail and road bridges and several cities in the W German tactical area; 2 bombers are lost:
1. 361 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Kaiserslautern (123), Homburg (28) and Neunkirchen (18), the Kaiserslautern rail bridge (31) and the bridge at Bullay (20); secondary targets hit are Bierbach (32) and Zweibrucken (20); 12 other hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 22 MIA.
Escorting are 147 of 161 P-51s without loss.
2. 535 B-17s are dispatched to hit the rail bridge at Irlich (109); 399 hit the secondary, the Mosel marshalling yard at Koblenz; 2 other hit a target of opportunity; 4 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA.
Escort is provided by 236 of 247 P-51s without loss.
3. 379 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Koblenz/Lutzel (131), Bruhl (75), Sieburg (36), and Troisdorf (11), and the Remagen Bridge (71); 1 B-17s hit the secondary, Sinzig; and 5 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 2 WIA.
Escorts are 158 of 168 P-51s without loss.
4. 27 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 767: During the night, 7 of 16 B-24s hit de la Colibre, France without loss.
Mission 768: During the night, 2 B-24s drop leaflets in Belgium without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents all combat operations except night-fighter missions.
Campaign report of the RAF:
27/28 December 1944
Opladen: 328 aircraft - 227 Halifaxes, 66 Lancasters, 35 Mosquitos. 2 Lancasters lost. 9 of the Mosquitos bombed 3½ hours before the main raid. The aiming point for the attack was the marshalling yards but results are not known.
7 Mosquitos on Oboe trials to Bonn, Eisenach, Frankfurt and Kassel (probably calibrating new Oboe stations in France and Belgium), 7 Mosquitos on 'siren tours' of Hamburg, Hannover, Münster and Osnabrück, 32 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
28 December 1944
167 Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the marshalling yards at Cologne/Gremberg with accurate bombing. No aircraft lost.
1 Hudson flew on a Resistance operation.
28/29 December 1944
Mönchengladbach: 186 aircraft - 129 Lancasters, 46 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. The railway yards were the aiming point but little damage was caused there.
Bonn: 162 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster lost. The intention again was to bomb the railway installations. Bomber Command's report states that the main weight of the attack fell on the railway yards, causing 'considerable damage'.
67 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group attacked a 'large naval unit' and some merchant ships in Oslo Fjord but no direct hits were claimed. No aircraft lost.
87 Mosquitos to Frankfurt - 79 to the city generally and 8 to the railway yards - 35 RCM sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 16 Halifaxes of No 6 Group minelaying in the Skagerrak and 11 Lancasters of No 5 Group off Oslo, 12 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 minelaying Halifax was lost and 1 Mosquito from the Frankfurt raid crashed in France.
Total effort for the night: 638 sorties, 3 aircraft (0.5 per cent) lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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